Method of and apparatus for cooking oil-bearing material.



A. w. FRENCH. v PPARATUS FOR COOKING OIL BEARING MATERIAL- APPUCATIONFILED AFR. l7, 19H.

METHOD OF AND A Patented May 25 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

A. W. FRENCH. APPARATUS FOR 000mm OIL BEARING APPLKCATWN FILED APR. il,19H.

MATERIAL.

METHOD or AND Patnted May 25, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET Z.

J2] T Ftyf.

T 0 all whom it may conpern UNITED. sir-Arne Parana osricn.

ALFRED W.-:FBENCH, 0F PIQUA, OHIO.

Specification of Letters Patent.

METHOD or (AND APIE'ARATUS roe cookme OIL-BEARING MA ERIAL.

Application filed A ril 1?, 1911. Serial no. 621,452.

improved. method of and apparatus for cooking cotton seed. meal.preparatory to expressingit-he oil therefrom, but the method andapparatus are not necessarily restricted to this particular use.

The. cookers ordinarily'used for cooking cotton seed meal consist ofseveral kettles which are arranged in a horizontal series and are filledand emptied alternately, the meal in each kettle remaining therein untilcooked and then being discharged through aconveyer, or in some instancesthrough a subkettle, into the cakeformer. Themeal is usually heated fora short period of time with steam at a relatively high. pressure, whichresults in the temperature of the meal being rapidly raised practicallyto the boiling point of water, after which the high temperature actstodrive off the moisture contained in the meal, thereby necessitating theaddition ref-water if the seed is dry. This turns the meal dark and addscolor to the oil, which. increases theloss in refining.

.moisture is not left in the meal to make a firm, compact cake, therewill be a loss in the yield of oil. This the services'of an experiencedmeal cor are required night and day. Furthermore, considerable labor isentailed inyfilling and discharging the kettles. and the kettles occupya large amount of floor space in the mill. There are cookers, almostexclusively in linseed oil mills. 7

used in which the kfettlcs are arranged one over the other pr in astepped or sta ggere A 165, 1th intermnmgspa'ces so that the .ps of thekettles can be left open for the escape of the moisture driven elf fromthe meal, but these arrangements require considerable vertical andfloorspace; Neither of these types of cookers has provision for timingwith certainty the period of cooking in the several kettles so as toinsure uniformity in the cooking, or for properly regulating themoisture of the cooked meal. v

The object of this invention is to provide an improved method of andapparatus for cooking oil-bearing meals by which all of the meal.remains in the cooker for a predetermined period of time and is cookeduni: formly, and by which the moisture of the meal can'lce regulated asrequired, whereby the services of an experienced meal cook are/dispensedwith, the quality of the prod not, ,both the oil and the oil cake, is.improvcd,the yield of the oil is increased, and the injury to the presscloths is reduced.

The accompanying drawings, consisting of two sheets, illustrate steamcooking ap Patented May25, 1915.-

paratus embodying the invention and adapt ed for carrying out theimproved method of cooking meal.

Figure 1 is an elevation, partly in section, thereof. Fig. 2 isfragmentary elevation, partly in section, on an enlarged scale, of thegate-operating mechanism. Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation, onanenla-rged scale, in line 33, Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a sectional eleva-'tion of the gate-operating mechanism in line 44-, Fig. Fig. 5 is asectional elevation thereof in line 5-5, Fig. v I

Like reference characters refer to like parts in the several figures.

A represents steam cooking kettles or chambers wh ch are preferablyarranged one directly over and upon the other, so that the bottom of onekettle forms the top of the one next below. The kettles have bottomdischarge openings a, controlled by swinging or other suitable gates a,through which the meal can discharge by gravity from kettle to kettleand can be drawn from the bottom kettle. Any suitable number of kettles"may be employed. In the cooker iilustratcd there arefoiiir kettles, allhaving hollow bottoms (a forming steam chambers which are supplied withsteam by the usual or any suitable means (not shown) for cooking orheating the meal. The two upper kettles are preferably shallower thanthe others and are provided with hollow 0r jacketed walls of alsosupplied with steam for the purpose of quickly heating the meal thereinto the required temperature.

B represents the usual rotary stirrors or scrapers consisting of armsprojecting raor moldingmach-ine at substantially regular intervals inthe usual or any suitable way;

-When the bottom kettle has been emptied 'ora predetermined quantity ofmeal drawn 5' therefrom, the other kettles are dischar ed periodicallyand in succession by mec anism which first opens the gate of'the secondjkettle to discharge its contents into the bottom kettleandcloses thisgate, then opens; and closes the gate of the third kettle to re fill thesecond kettle therefrom and closes this'gate before opening th gate ofthe next kettle above, which opera ion is continued \until the meal isdelivered from each kettle of the series except the bottom kettle to thekettle next below. In this way-substantially uniform quantities orcharges of meal pass from each kettle to the next at regular inter-'vals, and a definite perlod of time, dependso ing upon the rate atwhich the meal is drawn from the bottomkettle, is required for aparticular batch of meal to pass through the cooker, with the resultthat all of the meal is uniformly cooked.

charges are also regulated so that they will 'only partially fill thekettles, and thus leave air, spaces in the kettle above the mealtherein. The gates are preferably actuated by 40 power-driven mechanism,which, after thus operating the gates of the several kettles insuccession, comes .to'rest, and is' again started manually, or by meanswhichare automatically controlled by the quantity of meal in the bottomkettle. The mechanism shown in the drawings for this purpose is likethat disclosed in my co-pending application Serial No. 549,312, filedMarch 14, 1910, and

is constructed as follows: The gates 02' of thekettles above the bottomone are secured to rock-shafts C which extend out of the cooker and areconnected by rock arms 0- and links 0 to the upper ends of vertical'rods D I) D. The several rods D n-D 66 are slidable vertically insuitable guides d on the cooker and are adapted to be liftedsuccessively by a series of arms or cams a on a gate-operating shaft Ewhich is suitably journaled on the cooker. The rod actu- 60 ating armsor cams e are arranged at such angles on the shaft E that one rod, 1),is

reciprocated to open and again close the.

gate of the second kettle before the. next rod D is raised to open thegate of the 66 third kettle, each gate being opened and The The,

j il closed in thisway before the next gate is close the gates by theii'Weight. The shaft E can be driven at the prop-erspeed in any suitableway, for instance, it is connected bfy; a worm wheel f and worm f to adrive sha F provided with a pulley f for a drive belt.

"The worm wheel f shown is mutilated so that when the shaft E has madeone revolu tlon'and operates the several gates in sue cession once,- 1tcomes to rest in the peer 'tion shown inFig. 2 and the gate-operating amechanism remains at rest until again start ed by turning-the worm wheelf suilicientlyto bring its teeth again into mesh with the worm fi Thiscan be done hy hand b'utis preferably accomplisged automatically by a;

starting device whic is controlled by the level'of the meal-inthe-bottom kettle. The starting device consists ofa blade or plate G "inthe bottom kettle fixed to a rockshaft g -which 18 provided with an arm'51" connected to a pawl-carrier H which is provided with a-pawl hadapted to engage a tooth or projection h on the worm wheel f. The plateG is normally held up substantially in the position shown in Fig. 2, orcaused to float,

by the horizontal motion of the meal in the kettle. When the level ofthe meal in the 1 bottom kettle is lowered to a predetermined'loo point,the blade G will'swing downwardly, thereby rocking the shaft 9 andmoving the pawl h so as to turn the worm wheel! to place its teeth inmesh with the worm f and thus start the gate-operating mecha nism. Theoperation of the cooker isthus 'made automatic, the gates being actuatedin succession to deliver the meal from'fon'e kettle to the next onebelow, as explained, whenever the predetermined cquan'tity: oi nliealhas been drawn from the bottom kett e. ,7 o

Other suitable mechanism for operating: the gates to discharge thekettles successively I in the described manner could be employed, lie

'1 represents yent holes provided'finthe upper portions of the kettlesfor the esca of the moisture rising from the meal. in exhaust trunk orpipe 71 connected by branches '11 with the vent holes I at one fside 120of the cooker leads to an: exhaust fan or device (not shown) for drawingoil" the moisture from the kettles. Dampers i in the branches of theexhaust pipe enable the suction from the several kettles to becontrolled for the purpose of drawing ofi more or less moisture asrequired, depending upon the condition of the meal.. "g v y i Krepresents an air supply pipe-leadin from an air heater is of anvsuitable kin 1E6 valves 5 of any suitable sort for partially or whollyclosing them. These intermediate vent holes are sufliciently large andnumerous to allow the escape of moisture from the meal when it isrelatively dry, but when the vapor driven ofi from the mealcannot escapenaturally through thesevent holes, they are closed to prevent theadmission of cold air, which-condenses the moistureand chills the meal,and the vapor is drawn ofi through the exhaust trunk if. When the mealis very wet, hot air from the supply pipe is is drawn through thekettles by the exhauster for more rapidly drying the meal, the temperature of the air being regulated according to the condition of themeal, by proper adjustments of the dampers Z and The air is heated tosuch a temperature that it .will not condense'the' vapor in the kettles.

When the seed is dry the vent holes I can be close so that the naturalmoisture in the meal may be retained. Thus the moisture can be preventedfrom escaping from the kettles when this is necessary on ac count of themeal being-dry, and the meal can be dried more or less, as required, bythe proper use of the exhausting and air supplyingjmeans Vent ,holesbetween the air supplyahd exhaust pipes are not absolutely essentialand/if desired, the moisture can he removed. and the hot air supplied bya .forbeil draft instead of by exhaustion) r T I The described meansfor-maintaining the air spaces in the kettles above the meal and forcarrying off the moisture, besides en abling the regulationof themoisture of the meal as stated, enables the kettles to be placeddirectlyover and'upon each other, which obviates the necessity for the large'spaces between the kettles heretofore remoisture.

quired when the kettles were arranged in a descending series for theescape of the v The height of thecooker is, therefore, greatly reducedand of course the cooker requires only the floor space necessaryfor asingle kettle in the horizontal are rangement.

In the cookingprocess. the meal passes in succession from oneskettle tothe next, .the

' time required for the assage of every pore tion of meal being sustantially the same. The meal is subjected both at the bottom and thesides to the steam heat in the two upper kettles, and the bottom ofthetop kettle also heats the top portion of the meal in the second kettle,so that as the quantity of meal in these two kettles is relatively smallthe meal is quickly raised to the necessary cooking temperature in thefirst two kettles. The steam pressure on the other kettles need be onlysuflicientto retain the meal at the temperature given it in the twoupper kettles so as to retain the heat in the meal and allow it to cookpractically by its own heat.

The lower kettles are also preferably of larger capacity than the upperones, so that it requires longer for the meal to pass through thesekettles, and the meal is therefore cookedslowly in these kettles at amoderate heat for a longer time than it can be kept in the greater heatof the upper ket- -tles,'which results in thoroughly softening the oilcells of the meal so that they will more readily give up their oil underpressure, without either driving oil the necessary moisture or scorchingor discoloring the meal. The long slow cooking of the meal alsocoagulates the albumin in the meal so that the meal will not creep inthe press and burst, the press cloths, as it does when cooked morerapidly.

While the described arrangement of the 9 kettles, one vertically overand directly upon the other, is preferred for the reasons stated, yetthe described continuous process of cookingcan be carriedout with otherarrangements of the kettles so long as they are disposed in a descendingseries and have provision for regulating: the quantity of meal therein,as stated.

I claim asmy invention:

1. The combination with a plurality of cooking kettles or chambers ofsolid mate rial arranged in a descending series and pro vided with meansfor heating the material, of mechanism for dischargiiig material fromthe kettles above the bottoui kettle in succession and .for positivelystopping the (llS- charge of the material from one kettle be- --fore thedischarge of material commences fronrthe kettle above, and means fordefinitely regulating the moisture in the material in at least some ofsaid kettles.

2. The combination with a plurality of cooking kettles or chambers forsolid ma- -mences from the kettle above, whereby the material isdischarged first from the secon'd kettle into the bottom kettle, thenfrom on and the quantity of the, material in the kettles is regulated,and means for exhaust ing air 'from the upper portions of at least someof said kettles to carry off the mois ture from the material.

3."The combination with a plurality of terial provided with dischargeopenings and with means for heating the material and arrangedto'discharge the material from one kettle into another, of automaticmechanism which operates to discharge material from the kettles abovethe. bottom oneperiodically one after another commencing with the second"kettle when a predetermined quantity of thematerial has been withdrawn.

from the bottom kettle and for closing the discharge opening ofonekettle before the discharge of material commences from the kettleabove, whereby the material is discharged iirst from the second kettleinto the bottom kettle. then from the third kettle intothe second kettleand so on and the i some of said-kettles.

quantity of the material in the kettles is regulated, and means forexhausting the moisture arising from the material in at least I 4. Thecombination with a plurality of closed cooking kettles or chambers forsolid material provided-With discharge openings and with .meansforheating the material and arranged to, discharge the material from onekettle into another, of means for discharging the'kcttles above thebottom one periodically one at a time commencing with the second kettleand for closing the discharge opening of one kettle before the dischargeof material cdminences from the kettle above, whereby the material isdischarged first from the second kettle into the bottom kettle, thenfrom the third kettle into the second kettle and so on andthe quantityof material in the kettles is regulated, andmeans for causing a currentof air to flow over the material in least some of said kettles to carryoil the moisture arising front the material. in said kettles.

5. The combination with a plurality oit' (ZOOlilllQ'kGhlllO-S or chanlbers for solid inaterial provided with discharge openingsandwith'n'ncans t.t' i"'he ating the material and arranged in a dcscend-iiia series topermit the material to discharge from one kettle intoanother, of gates for the discharge openingsof thekettlesabovo thebottom one,

mechanism for actuating said gates for dischargingn'mterial from thekettles one after another commencing with the second kettle and closingthe gate for one kettlevbefore the gate of'the kettle above is opened,whereby the material' is discharged first frompthe second l'rettle intothe bottom l ett le, tl1en from the-third kettle into the secondkettleand so on, and means forlekhaustingair im encing with the kett from theupper portions of at least some of said-kettles for definitelyregulating I moisture of the material.

6. The combination with a plurality and with means for heating thematerial and I cooking kettles or chambers for solid ma- 'arranged'm adescending series to permlt the material to discharge from one kettle toanother, of automatic mechanism controlled by the quantity of materialin the bottom kettle for discharging material. from the kettles abovethe bottom one periodically one at a time commencing with the secondkettle and vfor closing the discharge 0 ening of one kettle before thedischarge 0 materialcommences from the kettle above, whereby thematerial is'discharged first from the second kettle into the bottomkettle, then from the third kettle intothe second kettle and so on andthe quantity of the material in the kettles is regulated, and means forexhausting the air from the upper portions of at least some of saidkettles to carry off 'the moisture from the material.

7. The herein described continuous proof ess of cooking oil-bearingmaterial, consisting in heating the material in a series of and stoppingthe discharge from one kettle, before the discharge commences from thekettle above, whereby the material is disc charged first from the secondkettle into the, a bottom kettle, then from the third kettle I into thesecond kettle; and so on, and ex vhausting the moisture arising from thematerialin at least some of said kettles for regulating the moisture inthe material.

8. The herein described continuous proc essof cooking o1l-bear1ngmatenal, conslsting'in heating the material. in a series of closedkettles arranged to permit the material to discharge from one kettleintoanother, causing the material to discharge from the kettlesabove'the bottom kettle oneafter another commencing with the secondkettle and stopping the discharge fromone kettle before the dischargecommences from the kettle above, whereby the material is dischargedfirst from the second kettle into the bottom kettle and then from thethird kettle into the secon l,'and circulating air over the material inat least some of said ,kettles to regulate the moisture of the material.

9. llhe herein described continuous proci oi: cooking oil-bearingmaterial consist-1 'ing in heating the material'in closed kettles"arranged to permit the material to discharge terial to discharge fromthe kettlesflifive he bottom one periodically one at from one kettleinto the next, cauein discharge from one kettle before the dis ping. thedischarge from one kettle before the discharge commences from the kettlethen from the third kettle into the second kettle and so on and thequantity of material in the kettles is regulated, and positivelyregulating the moisture in the material in the kettles.

10; The herein described continuous process of cooking oil-bearingmaterial, consisting in heating the material in closed kettles arrangedto permit the material to discharge from one kettle to the next, causingmaterial to discharge from the kettles above'the bottom one periodicallyone at a time commencing with the second kettle and stopping the chargecommences from the kettle above, whereby the material is dischargedfirst from the second kettle into the bottom kettle, then from the thirdkettle into the second kettle and so on and the quantity of material inthe kettles is regulated, supplying tempered air to the upper portionsof at least some of the kettles, and exhausting the air to carry off themoisture driven, off from the material in said kettles.

11. The herein described continuous process of cooking oil-bearingmaterial, consisting in heating the material in a series of kettlesarranged to permit the material to discharge from one kettle to another,cans-- ing the material to discharge from the kettles above the bottomone in succession at definite periods after a predetermined quantity ofmaterial has been withdrawn from the bottom kettle and'stopping thedischarge from one kettle before the discharge commences from the kettleabove, whereby the material is discharged first from the second kettleinto the bottom kettle, then from the third kettle into the secondkettle and so on.

12. The combination with a plurality of closed chambers for solidmaterial provided with discharge openings and arranged in a descendingseries to permit the discharge of material from chamber to chamber, and

means for heatingthe material, of gates for the discharge openings ofthe ehan'i 'ers above the bottom one, driven mechanism for opening andclosing said gates periodically whereby the material is dischargedperiodically from one chamber into another and the quantity of thematerial. inthe chambers is regulated, and means 'for exhausting airfrom the upper portions of at least'soine of said chambers to carry oi?the moisture from the material.

13. The combination of a plurality of heating kettles or chambersarranged in a descending series andeachkettle except the lowest havingdischarge opening arranged to deliver the material into a lower kettle,

ates controlling said discharge openings,

closes the gates of said chambers" one after several gates and operateto close the gates and normally retain them in closed position,

and a rotary shaft provided with a series of arms arranged to actuatesaid'rods in suc- 8G cession to open the gates. f a 15 The combinationof a plurality of heating kettles or chambers arranged in a descendingseries and each kettle except the lowest having a discharge openingarranged to deliver the material into a lower kettle, gates controllingsaid discharge openings, and driven mechanism 3 which opens and closessaid gates in succession and is constructed to automatically come torest after 0. opening and closing the several gatesonce. 16. Thecombination of a plurality of heating kettles or chambers-arranged in adescending series and each-kettle except the lowest having a dischargeopening arranged to deliver the material into a lower kettle, gatescontrolling said discharge openings, driven mechanism which opensandcloses said gates in succession and is constructed to automatically cometo rest after opening and closing the severalg'ates once, and

means vfor starting said-mechanism;

17. The combinationof a plurality; of heating kettles or chambersarranged-ima descending series and- .eaclrkeale except the 1105" lowesthaving a-dischaijg' opening'arranged to deliver the materialinto"a-"lower' kettle, gates controlling saiddlscharge openings, drivenactuating mechanism for said gates, I y and means governed bythe'qua'ntity of mate ial in one of-said l 'ettl'e's;;for causing theeriodic operation of said" gate-actuating mechanism.

18. The combination of a plurality of "1 heating chambers arr-,mged in'a descending v series and each chamber above thelowest-I having adischarge.openmg arranged to de liver the material Int 0 3, lowerchamber,

gates controlling said discharge openings,

and driven 'mechanisiir which opens and another at regulatedintervals.-19. In an apparatus of the. characte specified, a series of kettlesarranged one g,

above the other, with discharge openingsf l i'rom one kettle to the"kettle'next below and doors for the openings,-with means for mchanically openingfand' closing each doo succession in timed relationtoeach othe v,

.20. In an apparatus of the fcharac chanically opening and closing eachdoorin succession in timed relafiion to each other, and mechanism fordisconnecting the door 15 actuating means at; the termination of eachcycle of operation. s n

Witness my hand, this 25 day of'tFebruary, 1911. V

ALFRED W. FRENCH Vvitnesses:

J. E. Pnmms, L. E. COSTLEY.

